AsleepWatcher

Verdict: This drama is entertaining enough, and it should have been good, but it isn't. It had its shortcomings, but the biggest problem is that it's lacking of its own colour.

Imo, the ML is not a well written character. His motivations to enter the hospital were for his fortune and pride, which are almost reasonable, but the show tries to make it look like some noble decision which just baffles me and it came across as pretentious. His scenes that were meant to be emotional did not hit. He is enamored by the FL from the first episode, because... she was hot when her hair was let down. Fair enough. You can play the most grand music and portray him as a knight in shining armor with fireworks in the background, but shallow writing is shallow writing. I couldn't connect to him and even found some of his goofiness off-putting in the beginning.

The FL on the other hand is much more likeable as a character, but the lack of chemistry between her and the ML and the lack of depth of their relationship makes it hard to feel anything during their intimate scenes. The biggest selling point of the show was the main leads' journey as partners, but since I didn't even like them as partners, that greatly hindered my viewing experience.

The plot - there isn't much to talk about. It's a very standard premise for its genre but decently executed visual wise. The lack of a mystery since they revealed most of the background early on made the show feel like it was dragging its feet. I was just waiting for the leads to find out what we already knew. I don't know if the last 3 episodes will be a significant improvement, but I don't think I'll end up rating this above a 7/10.

Iirc, JTBC had a ratings slump before Reborn Rich where they had critically acclaimed and more creative productions, like MLN as you mentioned, but they all fell short in ratings whereas tvN ratings were blooming. This year is the opposite and JTBC is consistently outperforming tvN in ratings, by going the safe route. I wouldn't mind if they maintained the quality of their shows, but SGNS was horrendous and really didn't deserve its ratings. WTS is 100x more watchable in comparison. But I would have much preferred if they went bolder with the plot.

Verdict after 6 episodes: This is a family-friendly, easy watch kind of show that is clearly aiming for the domestic ratings. JTBC found their formula in maintaining decent to good ratings for their weekend dramas; simplistic storyline with some slapstick humour and bickering leads. Behind Your Touch, SGNS, Doctor Cha etc all fit the bill and maintained good ratings, even if one of them had horrendous writing. It's an unambitious strategy that works.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not how the world works. Going by your logic, we can only say good things about every single drama production.

As anyone can tell, she's a flawed character with some unlikable traits. You can call her stubborn, sensitive, naive or insecure, but yeah she isn't exactly selfish. She's shown to have treated her staff well even if she wasn't the most communicative boss and thanked her employees for cleaning up her mess (which she couldn't because she would get swarmed by reporters). If it's about the breakup, there's not enough context. And imo ending a relationship because of different aspirations isn't selfish. I'm just waiting for her character to get it together a bit so we can see some story development.

I get your point and I kind of agree, because the lack of context of their history makes it hard to understand their relationship. So far I'm enjoying the friendship and family bits more, I think the bickering of the leads is quite humorous but there's zero room for romantic chemistry, yet. Obviously there will be a turning point where their feelings start coming back, but now it's like watching two people who know each other a lot more than we know about them, and you don't get to relate to their feelings about each other. And it will remain that way until they start showing exactly what happened in the old days. It works for the show in the sense that it make you curious about their relationship in the past, but doing that sacrifices your enjoyment of watching them in the present. That's just how it is for most ex-es to lovers plots I guess.

That seaweed throwing was actually hilarious and out of nowhere, I felt like I could smell the seawater through the screen. Then I wondered how it must have felt for the actors. It must have actually hurt getting slapped in the face and the salt probably stung and dried out their skin. Ouch. And saltwater probably got into their eyes and mouth, bleghhhh. Must have been a disgusting experience filming that.

Ok, 3rd episode is a lot better than the first 2 and it's setting itself apart from a regular rom com now. It's definitely looking more like a slice of life with some romance and family mixed in. The directing is coming off as a bit old school but it seems like a deliberate choice, and it's working to deliver some nostalgia.

Personally, this show felt like it had wasted potential. At the beginning, I had my own doubts about the way the show portrayed the female lead and its premise, but I was able to get past that. Even then, it had some glaringly big flaws. Subplots felt more like the main plot and was taking up too much screentime. No, I did NOT want to see the abusive dad onscreen for what seemed like longer than the main characters! The last minute attack on the foster dad was a lazy and cheap move for the writer to show dad and mom's love and history together. That part was totally saved by the actors and editing. In fact, the writer was constantly forcing in situations to create tension. That's not the level of writing I expect in a mini-drama, those are tactics that those 50 episode soap operas use to drag out the storyline. The show didn't need them, they did not enhance the viewing experience but did the opposite instead. It simply showed me that the writer was doing more than what they could handle, and I'll probably be a bit apprehensive about their next work.

That being said, there were things that were done very well. Firstly, OSTs were good, even the background music enhanced many of the scenes. Mok Ha's songs were decent to good, the first song she sang being the most memorable. It's a central part of the story and that portion being handled well gives the show many plus points. Gorgeous colour grading and while the filters were a bit overdone, they fit the theme of the show being a fantasy (it isn't marketed as a fantasy but it totally is). Ending scene was easily on par with a shot out of a disney movie. Bits and parts of her island life interwoven throughout the show, while unrealistic, gave the scenes more depth. Acting performances were decent to good. And most importantly, Park Eun Bin's singing which instantly shot up her likeability in my eyes. Frankly I think her singing outshone her acting in this one, it did feel like most of her efforts went into vocal training. Her acting wasn't bad, in fact it's still good, it just felt like it wasn't at her usual standard. While this role doesn't rank among my favorites of hers, her voice here despite not being formerly vocally trained is a testament to her hard work and dedication.

Overall, the show gets a 7.5 from me. I had a lot of complaints but I don't regret watching it.

They're from generations X, Y and Z, SDM is old enough to be KMA's mom lol. But they surprisingly can pass off as sisters in the show.

I'm kind of on the fence for this. I can't say I didn't enjoy the first 2 episodes since I didn't feel bored, but the show looks like it's at a risk of being, well, a very typical rom-com.

The Bad:
- The scandal being a way to get the FL back to her hometown is a bit contrived.
- Comedy is a hit or miss. Characters can come off as being childish instead.
- ML is coming off as a nice guy caricature so far. His workplace scenes didn't really interest me.
- FL's attitude towards her own scandal is a bit frustrating. Though there is some room for thought on whether she's genuinely too naive, is personally attached to the assistant or has a personality that tends to blame herself.
- FL's mom having an illness and hiding it is obviously gonna head into very familiar territory.
- Getting actors in their 30s to wear high school uniforms, again??

The Good:
- The 3 sisters and niece have good acting chemistry, their scenes are entertaining and relatable. There is room for character exploration here.
- As usual, Shin Hye Sun's comedic and emotional acting is effective.
- I think the pacing feels pretty fast so far compared to other shows of this genre.
- From the short flashback scenes, leads seem to have pretty good chemistry.
- Promising OSTs that are remakes of classic songs
- It's effective so far as a slice of life, borderline sitcom kind of watch

Well I'll be damned, season 1 was barely passable for me, it was actually a huge downgrade from the source material and if season 2 fell short of that... yep I'm skipping it.

You have a point. I guess I'm just tired of this artificial realism ending up morphing into the same old, familiar tropes. The premise is just another means for the FL and ML to have this sort of ill-fated relationship that will end in a touching reunion. It's so obvious that I feel annoyed, because it could have been something different. I'll see what else the show has to offer. I think Park Eunbin's singing is worth staying for.

Because the minority (me included) who have issues with the show will be louder. I won't have much stuff to say if I think a show is flawless. Likewise if I think a show isn't worth watching, I won't bother leaving a comment and just drop it, full stop. I can imagine many users doing the same, so you'll always see criticism under popular and well received shows.

This isn't a bad show or anything, but I don't really know where it's trying to go with this story. The FL just got rescued from a deserted island and before she had a chance to properly adjust to modern society, she goes to meet her idol to fulfil her dream of becoming a singer. The thing is that her devotion to this idol stems from escapism from her abusive childhood and probably her means of motivation to stay alive during her years of isolation. We all know the entertainment industry is the best place to stunt emotional growth. And that's where the story throws her into, which is the last thing our already emotionally stunted FL needs. Of course this being the romcom that it is, the 2FL probably isn't going to manipulate her and she has the ML to protect her. But there are sooo many red flags if this were a real life situation. And as far as I can tell, it's just adding more pain to her already traumatic life.

I don't like to compare but I preferred the way Still 17 dealt with its FL. It had a similar premise but kept the story simple, it was about adjusting to adult life, building relationships and overcoming failures. By the end the FL has grown as a character and is emotionally mature enough to accept that she can find other sources of happiness, even if she can't be a violinist. But here, the only outcome I can think of if Mokha fails to achieve her dreams is that she would need a lot of therapy (that she already needed) because that is essentially the whole world to her (other than Kiho I guess). I can continue but I'll end the rant before it becomes an essay.

I hope so. Fortunately the writer doesn't seem to have any history of adding killer plots.

They may be, but the serial killer arcs were still poorly executed and felt unnecessarily shoehorned into the show.

To add, some of the worst offenders: Crash course in romance, You are my spring

After that second teaser I wonder if this is leaning towards romcom/slice of life or melodrama? But tbh as long as there's no serial killer plot shoehorned in I'm good to go. I can't even count how many dramas have been ruined by that!

This lineup is very promising but what's with the photoshop in that poster 🤦‍♂️